Times have changed for those of us who haven't been in elementary school in mflufl years. Even for those of us whose kids haven't been in elementary school in mflufl years.

I recently visited Tuscany Heights Elementary in North East ISD and Indian Springs Elementary in Comal ISD and was amazed to see how efforts to improve kids' diets and increase physical activity have taken root.

I only wish more schools would have such opportunities.

Last year, these two schools, located probably less than 3 miles from one another on opposite sides of U.S. 281 in the Bulverde area, were awarded Healthy Campus grants of $15,000 each as part of H-E-B's Excellence in Education Awards program.

The schools had already been doing a good job promoting health and wellness, and I wanted to see how they're using the grant money, doled out in $5,000 increments over three years, to continue to do so.

At Indian Springs, PE teacher Tracie Hammond runs a number of innovative programs enthusiastically supported by staff and parents.

Shortly after Hammond launched an after-school workout class for staff members, for example, a parent who is CrossFit certified and in need of experience volunteered to take it over. Hammond also parlayed a grant from the district to furnish an empty classroom with two treadmills, an elliptical machine, exercise bikes and a weight bench.

“The kids get excited when they see their teachers working out through the window,” said Hammond.

And once a month she holds a Family Fitness Night, during which she opens the gym and lets parents and kids loose, simply, to play. One recent Friday night, families played volleyball, shot hoops or jumped rope (although a few parents, it must be said, sat on the sidelines, mostly checking their phones).

Over at Tuscany Heights, the healthy living programs mostly come under the purview of the school's PTA. The school caught H-E-B's eye with its annual Run for the Heights 5K fundraiser and health fair and Fun Food Friday, which, one Friday a month, introduces kids to a “healthy” dish — recently, Southwestern Corn Salad.

Both schools used the first $5,000 installment to expand their programs.

Hammond bought a set of heart rate monitors for students to wear during PE. The monitors teach the kids about the connection between their activity level and their heart rate.

She also purchased several nutrition-related games. In one, kids collect play foods in a shopping bag, learning which foods they can eat all the time, such as vegetables, foods they should eat only some of the time and foods, such as cake, that are an occasional treat. The games also contain a fitness component as the kids can exercise to work off the “bad” foods collected.

Mixing physical activity with learning is also big at Tuscany Heights. In the school's Learning Lab, kids solve math problems while peddling an exerciser, or learn vocabulary words while bouncing a basketball.

“There are plenty of studies that show physical activity improves academic performance,” said Denise Jones, the school PTA's healthy lifestyles chairwoman.

This is all great news and the work done by Hammond, Jones and others on their own time — Hammond doesn't get paid overtime for her Family Fun Nights — is admirable. But these are some of the best schools in the area. They're gleamingly new, with ferociously involved parents and staffs.

But what about schools from poorer districts without such strong parental involvement or teachers willing (and able) to spend their free time running extracurricular programs?

The Healthy Campus program does consider grant applications from Title 1 schools that serve low-income and at-risk students and are looking to start a program, according to Kate Rogers, H-E-B's vice president of communication and engagement.

Still, Roger Rodriguez, coordinator for health and physical education for the San Antonio ISD, concedes that many of his schools are at something of a disadvantage when it comes to earning the types of grants given to Tuscany Heights and Indian Springs.

“Often our parents are working even two jobs and it's hard for them to be as involved as they'd like to be,” he said.

Yes, the district won a three-year Department of Education grant worth $1.5 million, but that's a district-wide award.

Shouldn't there be programs designed to help individual schools other than those that already have a head start? If there are some, I'd love to hear about them.